Black-headed honeyeaters often go unnoticed but their song is the background music of the more leafier Hobart suburbs and on the lower slopes of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. It’s a gentle, incessant piping heard from dawn to dusk. Out of Tasmania’s four endemic honeyeater species the black-headed honeyeater is generally considered the least interesting and dramatic. It is not showy and flashy like some of the others, and goes about its honeyeater business in industrious fashion. … [Read more...] about Black-headed honeyeater
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Yellow-throated honeyeater
Stand within the nesting territory of yellow-throated honeyeaters in spring and chances are you’ll be in for a shock. The female of the species is known to steal animal hair to line her nest and it is not unknown for yellow-throated honeyeaters to pluck the hair of humans, although they usually prefer the less tricky option of finding discarded wallaby or possum fur. Tasmania’s endemic species are known for their quirkiness, their strange habits and calls, wild and … [Read more...] about Yellow-throated honeyeater
Yellow wattlebird
The yellow wattlebird is one of those species like the dusky robin and the Tasmanian scrubwren which peppers the long and winding road to Tasmania’s modern, settler history. The wattlebird appears prominently in the historical record, not so much as a curiosity but for its large size and diet of native fruits and berries which made it a popular game bird. This largest member of the Australian honeyeater family was shot for the pot during hard times experienced by the … [Read more...] about Yellow wattlebird
Striated pardalote leaves it late
The birds were scurrying for cover as a cold blast roared in from the south-west, rain falling in diagonal grey stripes from behind kunanyi/Mount Wellington. Among them I was surprised to see a straited pardalote, a summer migrant who should have been well on the way to Bass Strait and crossing to the mainland by mid-autumn. If the tiny pardalote had been in any doubt about the time to leave, the threat of snow on the high country would have finally spurred he or she on … [Read more...] about Striated pardalote leaves it late
Freckled duck finds sanctuary in Tasmania
Australia’s rarest waterfowl, the freckled duck, has made a welcome return to the wetlands of the Derwent with two being spotted at Goulds Lagoon, Austins Ferry, earlier this month. It was with pure coincidence that a species endemic to Australia should arrive just as the duck hunting season was opening in the state. I’ve seen the freckled duck on several occasions at Goulds Lagoon after I first added it to my checklist of birds spotted in 2013. On that occasion, I had … [Read more...] about Freckled duck finds sanctuary in Tasmania